3 motorcyclists hurt in crash on Highway 101

Two men and one woman were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries early Saturday in a crash involving a group of seven motorcycles on northbound Highway 101 in the construction zone south of Railroad Avenue on the Cotati grade, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Three motorcyles out of the group of seven were struck in the 8:50 a.m. incident and fell on the roadway, blocking both lanes of 101 for about a half hour, said CHP Sgt. Jeff Abrams.  After one lane was cleared and reopened, traffic was still down to a single lane for about an hour, he said.

"It's a construction area, so there's no room for people to drive around and get by," Abrams said. "People were getting impatient, and we had reports that some were trying to turn around."

Abrams said the incident occurred when a coyote along the side of the road  diverted the attention of the motorcyle group's leader.  When the leader raised his right hand to point out the coyote to the group, his cycle drifted to the left, striking a pile of yellow sand-filled barrels stacked along the center median, Abrams said.

"Those barrels are in stacks of 14, and they're filled with sand to buffer the median," Abrams said. "About six of them were hit, and some split apart and the sand came out."

The impact of the strike sent the leader's cycle careening back into the rest of his group, causing the leader's motorcycle and two others to crash to the ground, Abrams said.

Abrams said the group members, whose names were not available, were reportedly on their way to a motorcycle riders' club gathering in Healdsburg. Abrams said he had no word on the name of the club, but he was told they had been planning an afternoon leisure ride after the Healdsburg club meeting.

"It was all different types of motorcycles," Abrams said. "There were some cruisers, some Italian, some Japanese."

Area fire and ambulance crews responded to the call. There was no immediate word on which agencies responded.